The Seed
by The Incorrect One
Summary: A retelling of a classic story shaped for the world of ninja. What happens when the fate of the world rests upon the shoulders of a single being? Some rise to the challenge. Others are seduced by the promise of peace. Others are corrupted an soon become the very being they fought to destroy.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything related to the show/manga 'Naruto' or anything of that nature in the slightest. This is purely for fun.

**Author's note:** Hello new readers and potential friends alike. I am The Incorrect One, or TIC if you prefer that. This is something that I have wanted to do for quite sometime but have not gotten around to it. I finally decided to sit down and put this idea that I've had in my head down for you all to read. That being said, I am not the most fantastic writer ever but I certainly will do my best. Thank you in all advance and let's get this show on the road!

**Summary:** A retelling of a classic story shaped for the world of ninja. What happens when the fate of the world rests upon the shoulders of a single being? Some rise to the challenge. Others are seduced by the promise of peace. Others are corrupted an soon become the very being they fought to destroy.

* * *

Chapter One: The Seed

He ran. He ran for his life in the opposite direction from where the noise was coming from. Guttural screams and howling that nearly shattered eardrums upon release. Lungs burned with a fire that reached deep within his body. Skin was drenched in sweat, the breeze of the cool air did nothing to abate his heat. Why was he running so hard? The answer to that one was something simple in his mind: Whatever was behind him was best to remain that way. Though this man wasn't the only being running for his life in the streets on this full moon night. In fact the dirt road was entirely flooded with the pandemonium of the moment.

"Oh Kami-sama. . .RUN!" A pudgy fellow next to him called out, his heavier body refusing to move as fast as he wanted it to. Eventually the exhaustion catching up to him and his frame being tossed to the floor. Dusting kicking up as mobs darted past him. Gaze was eventually cast skyward. Orange and reddish tint polluted the naturally dark horizons. Fire. The combustion was absolutely everywhere. Smoke following in the wake of such abusive heat invading the surrounding areas. He couldn't afford to slow down. Couldn't afford to stop. He had to keep going.

Whilst he and the horde of civilians ran through the flooded routes of the village, a shriek was heard followed by a massive gust of air. Everyone with feet could feel the ground quake as one tail smashed in to the ground. He was young. Not so young as to be a kid but young enough that his reflexes were not quite gone yet. To his right he could see it. A chunk of building was was falling down. He could have warned the people front of him that they would get flattened by the rubble but he wasn't that nice. He wasn't a good natured person. Simply running past them an hoping they didn't scream when they died.

The buildings surrounding the road were all abandoned, empty an void of any life inside. Shops that once bustled with the business of economy found their windows smashed and their door ruptured by the weight of the scenario. Some of the lesser shinobi were on the sides of the roads with the people, ushering them to the safest route away from the chaos that ensued the night. The corruption of fear an panic spliced throughout the minds of the aforementioned guides. Everyone was on edge. Everyone was terrified. They needed a hero.

Shadows flashed to the ground in front of him, crouched low to the ground. Kicking up dirt in their wake. He didn't know if it was the adrenaline in his veins or if it was the smoke choking out the air that went to his brain but for a moment the time around him seemed so slow. His feet came to a skidding halt as the figure in front of him raised his head. A mess of blonde hair rose with him followed by the most intense blue eyes that had ever been known to this world. It. . .was the _Yondaime _Hokage! As fast as he had noted who it was he and the shinobi he was with were gone in the blink of an eye.

The male was forced to tears, liquid streaming down his cheeks as though rivers lay hidden in the corners of his eyes. For the first time since he had begun running he took a moment to stop an turn around to see the horror that flooded his mind. There it was, the fox of legend. A demon that held unrivaled power. Knees were weak with fear. The sheer presence of something so beyond sinister was far too much weight for his tired bodice to keep up. Palms rested in the dirt as frame lurched forward. Deep heaving breathes were needed. He swore that if he survived this he was go back on his workout routine.

"Quite the sight, isn't it?"

He paused for a moment. That voice was anything but reassuring to the fragile male. It was the type of cold poison that seeped in to the very essence of his being. Perforating the shell of confidence the worn out male normally held allowing the true self to leak from his wounded image. An embargo on heat was placed in the area as the icy aura of the being behind him crept forward. What was worse was that he couldn't tell if the monster to the front with the tales was worse that the voice behind him with the icy voice.

"Hmhmhm. Don't be alarmed. I am not here for you. I seek someone far younger."

Was that supposed to relieve him? Calm his nerves given the situation? If it was, it did nothing to soothe the strung out nervous system. He wanted to turn around. He wanted to look to see who this person was. It had to be someone terrifying or really strong if they weren't scared of the Fox in the distance. Eventually building up the courage to turn and look over his shoulder, he swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. The voice was gone. No where to be found or seen. He couldn't handle it anymore. There was too much stress in his life for this. Without much in the way of choice, he had passed out on the ground right there. Eyes slowly falling to a close.

When he finally came to again the world as he knew it was gone. He could only assume he was at a medical tent of some sort due to the amount of people that were in beds surrounding him. Bandages covered his frame, a blue gown covering those wrappings. Eyes gently came back to focus to the sight of a woman with glowing green hands. He could only assume that meant some sort of healing jutsu, right? Whatever it was, it felt amazing. Like all his aches and pains were gone. His legs didn't hurt from being overly exhausted an his muscles weren't complaining nearly as bad as they were before.

* * *

"T-thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Uhm. . .how long was I out for?"

"About a day or so. Luckily none of your injuries were very severe. Quite easy to take care of given a little bit of time and focus."

"Oh. Well that's good to hear-Wait, what happened?! I remember runnin' and there was a fox an I saw the Yondaime an-"

She put a finger to his lips. Silencing his frantic speech before it could infect the others.

"Sh. Not so loud. It's still very fresh in the majority of people's memories. Some are suffering rather intensely from it with some post traumatic stress. The Yondaime was summoned to fend off the Kyuubi's attack on our village. His plan was to seal half of the beast within himself and the other half within his newborn child."

"W-well. . . Did that uhm. . .work?"

"It would have." She sighed heavily, shoulders slumping in the process. "But there wasn't a child to be used in the ritual. Someone stole the baby from the Yondaime's house after Kushina had placed it there. She said that she only turned for one moment to get her headband and he was gone. She never felt anyone there. He was just gone."

He could tell the difference in her tone. This was not easy to tell and he couldn't imagine that it was easy on anyone really. Hell, even he felt the weight on his shoulders. Depressing him further in to his bed.

"So. . . what did they do?"

"The Yondaime an Kushina worked to seal the fox within themselves. Each taking one half of the Kyuubi with them. They both died in the process of the sealing. Since then Sarutobi-sama has taken the mantle back as the Hokage of the village whilst we look for another to take up the role."

Honestly, in his mind, he didn't believe that it could have gotten any worse really. This was by far worse than anything he could have devised up with his wildest imaginations.

"That's like. . .not good. I'm sure that we will find the kid an find a new Hokage. We can do this!"

"I hope you're right. I don't think the people of this village could handle anymore. They need a spark of light. Something to lift their spirits."

She rose to her feet once more, giving him a small smile.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours. Please try and get some rest Taisuke-san."

And so Taisuke did, closing his eyes and drifting off to a place better than his own reality.

* * *

Six months later

"Kakashi-san, please. No formalities. Stand up." An aged and withered voice spoke out behind from the comfort a lavish desk. Garbed in that of a white cloak with an oddly shaped hate garnished with the symbol of fire on the most frontal piece. The being in question did as he was told, rising to his feet with an exhausted look on his face. It was clear that this male had been out for quite some time. And whatever it was that he was doing had taken a lot of his energy.

"Hai, Sandaime-sama." His outfitting was plain. Simple. A gray vest with dark blue cargo pants and undershirt. An animal mask resting atop of his messy overcast hair with a blade strapped to his back. His expression looked that of a man bored out of his mind. Yet that couldn't be further from the truth. The news that he brought with him was perhaps some of the most exciting that had been in this village for quite sometime.

"Tell me you've brought some news with you. I read the reports but I like the face to face talks. I learn so much more this way. Perhaps it just the ramblings of an old man. Humor me though. What did you find?"

The moment that question left the withered lips of the elder male there was that of a lifting emotion in the air. It felt...peaceful for once in the most recent of months. Granted Kakashi wore a mask but it wasn't hard to tell when he was happy. Or smiling for that matter. It seemed that both were at play here. "We found him, Sarutobi. While investigating a lead on a base we thought belonged to your former student, we found him there. He was sleeping under a heating lamp. It doesn't look like anything happened to him or anything was done to him. He is being checked out by the med-nin now."

Sarutobi stroked his beard, pipe in the crook of his thumb and index finger. Orochimaru wasn't the sort to just leave things laying around. Especially not people that he still considered useful or someone that he could have value in later. So what was the plan? What was he hoping to get out of this? He supposed it would have to wait for now. If the Medical corps couldn't find anything wrong with him then he'd have to trust it for now.

"What do we tell the Village?"

Now that. That was an interesting question to be asking given the circumstances. On the one hand, he could certainly tell the village that this child was the son of Kushina an Minato. However, that also presents the very real threat of getting the boy killed before he was able to defend himself. He would be beyond disappointed in himself for letting something like that happen.

"Well, we can't tell them anything yet. Minato had enemies, a lot of them. If they found out he had a son...We may as well have put the hit out ourselves. We tell them nothing for now. When the boy gets older and is capable of understanding why I will tell him then."

The other shinobi in the room looked perturbed by that statement. It seemed almost heartless. "With all due respect, he'll be abandoned. I've seen what it looks like when children don't have parents. He'll live a very lonely life if we go through with this."

"If given the choice, Kakashi, would you rather be lonely or dead?"

A silence as heavy as the mountain in which Hokage's faces are saved upon rested in the room. He couldn't argue that point. Merely hung his head. It was his Sensei's son. It didn't feel right that he should be lost in such a manner. Just left to his own devices. Sensing the plight of the younger male, Sarutobi shifted over to his shoulder to rest a hand on him.

"I'll have him watched, guarded as often as I can. When he is old enough, we will get him a home and food to eat. It won't be perfect but he'll be better off this way till he's ready to take on the name."

A few knuckles rasped along the smooth wood of the door to the office. A light feminine voice drifted him. "Hokage-sama, news regarding the child."

"Please, come in."

Her outfit was plain white and felt sterile to even look at. A bland woman for certain but a certain fire in her eyes separated her from most. "The child is, surprisingly, in perfect health. I don't know what he was fed but it was extremely nutritious in it's value. He is going to grow just fine as far as we can tell. However, we did note something a bit different. His chakra network has already begun to grow. Not entirely unheard of but nothing like this. As though he's been training as an infant. He will be a splendid ninja when he becomes of age."

The elderly man gave a gravel like chuckle, years of smoking altering his voice an thusly his sound. "I'm sure he will be happy to know one day. Thank you for all your help. Please, pass my gratitude to the others, hm?"

"Of course, Hokage-sama. Uhm..."

"Yes?"

"What is his name?"

At this Sarutobi felt the need to return to his chair. Slowly falling in it to rest his body. Today was certainly a day to be celebrated but at the same time it lay such a heavy burden on him. Drawing a match from his robes he struck the wood against the tinderbox to light a flame enough to puff the pipe whilst he thought. '_Oh Minato...what would you have named your son?_' he thought to himself, stroking the beard once more.

A thought came to him. Jiraya. Not for a name but there was a book that he had made when he was younger before his more 'eccentric' books had come out. "Ah, here it is. The Tale of a Gutsy Ninja."

"Sir? I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Jiraya, when he was starting out, made a book that revolved around the hero, Naruto."

"So..."

"Naruto will be his name. Naruto Uzumaki, like his mother before him."

* * *

Intentionally brief. Later chapters will have increasingly more and more. 3


End file.
